I am attempting mission impossible. I am a sea kayaker. My wife and two daughters are not. Anyone know of a nice oceanside campground that they would have fun at when I am in the water. A pool, and or cabins would be a big help. Maryland to North Carolina in late August.
Campgrounds
In the Ocean City area (although I’ve never camped in that area) there were several prospects Google came up with:
http://www.occamping.com/
http://www.frontiertown.com/waterparkandgolf.cfm
Once you’ve paddled South along the Wilderness part of Assateague, at the South end where the Park service has the beach, lighthouse, et., if you go in the inlet to Chincoteage Island there a number of campgrounds. I think the one I camped at long ago was the Maddux Family Campground.
http://www.chincoteague.com/camp.html
A good link for the Hampton Roads area appears to be:
http://virginiacampgrounds.org/tidewater_hamptonroads.html
Note: I don’t recall the name but there is campground next to Jamestown on the James River where I and the family were eaten alive by the same mosquitoes that killed the colonists. This campground should be avoided.
This 1st Landing State Park at the mouth of the Chesapeake may be worth a look:
http://www.dcr.state.va.us/parks/1stland.htm
Seashore State Park which reaches from the back side of Virginia Beach to the Bay shore just SW of Fort Story at the mouth of the Bay, used to have very affordable primitive camping just off the beach when I stayed there long ago. But I didn’t find much info on that park on the web.
I’m not really familiar with campgrounds along the NC coast since in the past few years I’ve turned into more hotel guest than camper (I can recommend a Comfort Inn on the beach at Nags Head and a Holiday Inn at Sneads Ferry we stayed at a couple of weeks ago).
Campgrounds
Off the top of my head I’d look at www.koakampgrounds.com, www.camping.com, or www.gocampingamerica.com. For my beautiful state I’d take a gander at the places mentioned in “Guide to Sea Kayaking in North Carolina” by Pam Malec and “Sea Kayaking the Carolinas” by Jim Bannon.
SYOW
Cal
edisto beach
Look at Edisto Beach SC. There is a campground right on the beach with lots of places to paddle.
It is a state campground just about in the small town.
Assateague
Assateague Island, MD state park or national park campgrounds. Good camping, great paddling.
State and Federal campgrounds
I would add the Caveat that the federal campground has fewer amenities than the state campground at Asseteague. But the paddling is great and the other famiily members could drive orth to Ocean City, MD.
Captainclyde
Janes Island MD
Janes Island is on Chesapeake Bay, about an hour from Assateague, has cabins but no swimming pool. Very little swimming in the Bay in summer due to the sea nettles. Great base for kayaking though, but August might be incredibly buggy.
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/eastern/janesisland.html
Jim
North Carolina
Pettigrew State Park offers access to Lake Phelps and the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. It’s a great campground and even has heated showers! However I don’t believe that there are any cabins, only tent sites.
http://ils.unc.edu/parkproject/visit/pett/do.html
Frisco Woods Campground on Hatteras Island does have cabins for rent, a pool and many other amenities, including access to some great sea kayaking on either the ocean or sound side of the Outer Banks. Plenty of things for both you and your family to enjoy.
http://www.outer-banks.com/friscowoods/
I also agree with the Janes Island response, but want to emphasize the “buggy” part. I like to paddle there a little later in the year when most of the mosquitoes are gone.
A search for camping on the Outer Banks will undoubtedly bring up other options with cabins as well. Wherever you end up going, have fun.
Xchef
great help
Thanks all for your input. Some great links.